motor oil trivia

[John D.]

I know we are not supposed to mention oil brands but those of you that don't know this will find it interesting. When we are on the diesel oil kick some of the guys mention various companies.
Well Pennzoil, Quaker State, and Shell are all owned by the same company. This of course is probably old news for some of you but I bet most do not know. I didn't know this until today.(dummy) Then I went on the web and said wow this has been going on since about 2002. So when it was mentioned don't worry about brand names just be concerned with the "ingredients" that sure is the truth.

[Joe L.]

Re: motor oil trivia

John-----

Yes, they are owned by the same company (Shell). This is just like Mobil and Exxon-branded oils, both owned by Exxon-Mobil. And, Chevron and Havoline (Texaco), both owned by Chevron. I'm certain that regardless of brand, all of the oils meet the same API and SAE specifications as stated on the container. However, that does not mean that the oils of the different brands of one company are the same just because they are owned by one company. They might be, of course, but I doubt it.

[Duke W.]

Re: motor oil trivia

That's why I admonish all to ignore brand names and just buy the proper API service classification, which is CJ-4 for vintage Corvettes.

Duke

[Denny J.]

Re: motor oil trivia

Hi Joe
But I think they were ALL owned by 1 guy, Standard Oil.Till the goverment broke him up in the early 1900
Life must of been good back then.Denny72

[Joe L.]

Re: motor oil trivia

Denny-----

All except Shell (including Quaker State and Pennzoil) were once part of Standard Oil. Ever since the break-up, they've been "trying to get back together again". In the last 10 years, we've seen the "amalgamation" begin.

[Chuck S.]

Re: motor oil trivia

"However, that does not mean that the oils of the different brands of one company are the same just because they are owned by one company. They might be, of course, but I doubt it."

I completely agree with that statement, Joe. I expect the joining of the corporations resulted in a review of the combined product catalog to eliminate duplicates. It's likely those products with higher sales volume were selected. Primarily, these marriages result in "efficiency" in the combination of administrative and managerial staff, and a combination of the bottom lines.

I suspect the popular products of each company continue to be produced to the original specifications at the original processing plants...not that I'm saying there was any material difference in the products to begin with, since they were in complicance with applicable API specs.

I found that to be true recently when I went looking for a suitable synthetic "GC-LB" chassis grease for my Z51 rear link fittings. Many of the old Mobil products have been eliminated as have many Exxon products. I worked for both companies, so I still remember a few product names. Mobil's venerable old DTE turbine oil line, held in high regard by even Exxon maintenance engineers (Duke would say "brand foolishness"! ), soldiers on. Neither company's products made the grade for my Z51...I ended up selecting Castrol Syntec, primarily because (1) it meets the required general GC-LB spec and is clearly so labeled, and (2) it was readily available at Pep Boys.

[Christopher R.]

Re: motor oil trivia

I seem to remember that there was supposed to be something unique about motor oil derived from from Pennsylvania crude - Quaker State and Pennzoil. Something in the base crude that oils from other places didn't have. Does this sound familar?

(The mind is the second thing to go with aging. I forget the first thing.)

[Chuck S.]

Re: motor oil trivia

Hey, Chris...Whatcha' tryin' to do, jab Duke with a sharp stick??!! (LOL)

[Terry M.]

Re: motor oil trivia

At one time Pennsylvania crude was reported to be high in paraffin content, or at least it was marketed that way. I doubt Penzoil and Wolf's Head are made with significant amounts of Pennsylvania sourced oil any longer. Their marketing no longer touts Pennsylvania as a discrete source of their base stock.

[Duke W.]

Re: motor oil trivia

Yes, that particular marketing byline may have had technical merit back in the early days (like the first few decades of the twentienth century) when refining basically just amounted to distillation with little or no other additional processing, but modern refining includes solvent extraction and hydroprocessing, so the makeup of the crude oil is less important, and, as stated, Pennzoil has not used that particular advertising line for many years.

Duke

[Joe L.]

Re: motor oil trivia

Chris------

Yes, at one time, Pennzoil, Quaker State, and certain other motor oils were manufactured using crude oil derived from Pennsylvania. However, that source of crude oil for these motor oils ceased MANY years ago. I believe that Kendall was the last major motor oil to use "Pennsylvania crude" and even that ended at least 20 years ago.

I think that most of the crude oil in Pennsylvania has been "tapped out" by now, anyway.

[Verle R.]

Re: motor oil trivia

Joe,

There is still oil production in Pennsylvania in what is call "stripper wells". These are wells that are very low production (a few barrels a day) and are no longer owned by major oil companies.

The Sunoco refinery in Tulsa produces lube oil for several major companies to distribute in this area. One refining process for each type produces the basic oil stock for all. Each has their own proprietary additives formula that is supplied to be added in specified quantity before it is packaged with their label.

So as Duke said, pay attention to the specification printed on the label, not the name.

Verle

[Duke W.]

Re: motor oil trivia

There's very little difference in the additive package between motor oil brands for a given API service category.

They all have to pass the same suite of API tests for a given service category, and marketers are interested in the lowest cost product, so they all end up with basically the same additives in the same concentrations.

That's why motor oil is a generic product (API service category). The rest is marketing hype.

Duke

[Paul J.]

differentiating between sb and bb oil pump

Since, as I understand it, zinc has been removed from motor oil what are some of the products that can be added as supplements for older non roller cam engines? The archives say diesel oil still has the zinc but it costs a dollar a quart more. Paul

[Duke W.]

Re: differentiating between sb and bb oil pump

Your understanding is incorrect.

Search the recent archives, key word: 1509

A buck a quart more??? You're kidding, right? You can probably to to Jiffylube and get used oil for nothing.

Most CJ-4 oils are about the same price as SM, but don't go on sale as often. I recently bought some Walmart house brand CI-4 for a buck and a half a quart.

Duke